On a personal note, I found any form of notetaking is distraction for me to grasping information... I really don't understand how someone could take good note while also listen... I found this only when I starting my PhD. I hope I know this sooner. Also, notetaking in any designed system is worse than a blank piece of paper for me. Not sure if any one would agree.
When I absolutely must take careful notes but also listen carefully, I record the presentation and then take the notes from it later. Extra work but very effective. However, I've found that detailed notes are rarely needed. It's enough to note key references and details that seem like they might be hard to look up later.
Ooooooh I have a burning hate for this system (the dislike is rational, the burning part is not entirely rational but justified). Way back in high school my AP history teacher not only taught us this (cool, that's part of his job) and checked that we were able to do it (reasonable), he required us to submit notes in this exact format, for every reading, all year, which he graded. After I determined that my comprehens…
> pressure me to cancel my AP exam and take a partial refund for it Having done my studies in Europe, I'm wondering how much additional anxiety having this kind of pecuniary questions you can get. Discussing a refund if you fail a course sounds so alien to me
The AP exam is uncoupled from the course and belongs to a different organization. If you fail the school course you probably won’t pass the exam.
The secret is that American school doesn’t really bother itself with that much teaching. Nobody teaches children how to hold pens properly, cursive writing, etc.
Yeah sad but true. I think cursive is still taught for a year or two in elementary school but after that it's not required and most kids just print or develop their own personal blend of printing/cursive handwriting. I still take notes by hand, on paper, using cursive. I prefer a quality wood pencil and a separate rubber-type eraser for note-taking. For writing text, typing is faster but for note-taking during lectur…
> I think cursive is still taught for a year or two in elementary school but after that it's not required and most kids just print or develop their own personal blend of printing/cursive handwriting.
This is the natural result of teaching kids unnaturally and gratuitously ornate cursive forms for the sake of it, divorced from the utility that cursive writing is supposed to have. Handwriting forms serve two roles: to be written, and to be read. The point of cursive, outside of the immediate class, is that it optimizes for write time. If you teach people a cursive form that isn't faster to write than bespoke chicken-scratch, well, then it's no surprise they're not going to use it.
Ooooooh I have a burning hate for this system (the dislike is rational, the burning part is not entirely rational but justified). Way back in high school my AP history teacher not only taught us this (cool, that's part of his job) and checked that we were able to do it (reasonable), he required us to submit notes in this exact format, for every reading, all year, which he graded. After I determined that my comprehens…
My entire school did this. We even got a special notebook thing that had the pages laid out and also had other organizational stuff in it. The notebook and the notes in it were what we got graded on. No homework, no tests, we weren't really expected to study the notes, just take them. There were some other activities that involved the notes though at school, semi regular group and class discussions and we would reference notes. I also seem to remember teachers giving us notes too. Like after our notes from the previous day were graded they would handout a set of notes that were the ideal notes. I actually liked it, we only had 4 classes per day that were 90 minutes each and two of them were non-academic like PE, Band or Autoshop. Then if you were doing poorly you could come in early or late for zero and fifth block which were a 1 hour condensed recap of your previous academic classes. It also wasn't setup by grade so you could have all years in the same class even though most had a majority of one grade. It was a bad school though, an hour to get through metal detectors, ID had to be work facing outward at all times in an acceptable position. There was no being late or tardy either. The doors locked when the bell rang and no one could be in the halls without a security escort. If you did leave class to go to the bathroom you couldn't go back. Even still there were shootings. No bookbags were allowed so we didn't have take home books unless we were reading one in class like Malcolm X biography or the caged bird.
The main thing I learned watching these videos is that Cornell students—or Americans more generally, perhaps—hold pens in a way that seems unusual to me. For example, with the thumb wrapped round the pen or with it gripped by the tips of all five fingers. Is that normal in the US? In the UK, I was taught to grip the pen with my thumb and forefinger tips and rest it on my middle finger. Most people I see writing hold…
The secret is that American school doesn’t really bother itself with that much teaching. Nobody teaches children how to hold pens properly, cursive writing, etc.
They don't teach engineering undergrad students how to use sliderules anymore either.[1]
Technology changes. Literally noone other than maybe caligraphers, typeset designers and engravers needs to know how to use cursive writing anymore. It's gone from being essential for everyone to being an extreme niche.
[1] My dad always had a sliderule until I was like 8 or 9 and his sliderule was replaced by an HP RPN calculator. He learned to use it as an undergrad chemical engineer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slide_rule
Ooooooh I have a burning hate for this system (the dislike is rational, the burning part is not entirely rational but justified). Way back in high school my AP history teacher not only taught us this (cool, that's part of his job) and checked that we were able to do it (reasonable), he required us to submit notes in this exact format, for every reading, all year, which he graded. After I determined that my comprehens…
Elementary Middle, and High School has a way of putting teachers in the role of authoritarian minders, expected to enforce the pettiest standards, that really damages pedagogy. The tools to control your behavior become the tools they use to do their job, and then their job becomes controlling your behavior rather than teaching you. I had similar experiences like this throughout my pre-college education. I think it's a big part of why people get to college and find they actually enjoy school/learning, they may do better in their classes or feel smarter, et cetera. (Of course there are professors who are petty authoritarians as well, but I think the parties are better aligned in general, and you're more empowered to drop classes/choose professors.)
Ooooooh I have a burning hate for this system (the dislike is rational, the burning part is not entirely rational but justified). Way back in high school my AP history teacher not only taught us this (cool, that's part of his job) and checked that we were able to do it (reasonable), he required us to submit notes in this exact format, for every reading, all year, which he graded. After I determined that my comprehens…
My entire school did this. We even got a special notebook thing that had the pages laid out and also had other organizational stuff in it. The notebook and the notes in it were what we got graded on. No homework, no tests, we weren't really expected to study the notes, just take them. There were some other activities that involved the notes though at school, semi regular group and class discussions and we would refer…
I also seem to remember teachers giving us notes too.
I really wish more instructors would make their lecture notes available before class. It can save a tremendous amount of overhead to just write annotations and small additions to existing notes. Instead of mindlessly writing there is time to actually think. Some people are weirld cagey about this even though they already have their lecture notes for the semester sitting on their desk.
I wish this had been taught week 1 of college when I went in the mid 90s. All college's should have a mandatory module on note taking, learning techniques and general planning and productivity.
These study techniques ought to be introduced even earlier like during middle school grades. Time management and information processing are key to a successful educational experience. The fact that this is not generally taught is a major deficiency in most schools.
This, like any system, works better for some individuals than others, depending on their learning style. I liked the presentation here, basically “try this, you may find it valuable”. I'm sure that some people found it useless, others very useful. When I was teaching, students would sometimes ask me for permission to record the lectures. I always said yes, because I know that some students learn best aurally, and fin…
My entire school did this. We even got a special notebook thing that had the pages laid out and also had other organizational stuff in it. The notebook and the notes in it were what we got graded on. No homework, no tests, we weren't really expected to study the notes, just take them. There were some other activities that involved the notes though at school, semi regular group and class discussions and we would refer…
I also seem to remember teachers giving us notes too. I really wish more instructors would make their lecture notes available before class. It can save a tremendous amount of overhead to just write annotations and small additions to existing notes. Instead of mindlessly writing there is time to actually think. Some people are weirld cagey about this even though they already have their lecture notes for the semester s…
Isn't there quite a lot of research that shows that what makes note taking during lectures effective for helping you learn the material is the thought required to condense the material down to something you can write down while still keeping up with the lecture?